"It is," Toby agreed. "But then," he said, his normal attitude peeking through as he tried to push the bad feelings away and bring some positive emotion into the conversation. This was one of the rare occasions that he'd allow himself to manipulate the flow of emotion. Regan needed a little bit of happy, even if it was just for a little while. "Eventually, maybe, the science team and other folks out there will be able to rebuild. Maybe even recreate some of the things we've lost," he said, internally focusing all of his energy on projecting positive instead of absorbing negative. It was difficult, because he'd already fallen down the negativity scale so far, but he managed. Or at least his body felt that odd, tingling sensation it felt when he succeeded. He supposed he'd know by Regan's response. "We've got the best, as far as our science team goes, so I can't imagine that someday we wouldn't be able to get some of the things we used to have back again."
Toby picked up on the discomfort when he mentioned Kori, and he arched his eyebrow, curiosity winning out a little over humility. "You sound a little uncomfortable with the conversation being focused on Kori," he pointed out. Regan didn't have to answer if he didn't want to, but he couldn't help but ask. He nodded his head. "Definitely more of a blessing. And even more so that she managed to help them find the one thing they're good at that isn't destructive and doesn't make me want to tear my hair out of my head." The daycare was a definite blessing in that way.
A flash of anger bubbled up, but Toby tamped it down and shrugged a shoulder. "Vandals are generally all the same," he mused quietly. "They go after people who can't defend themselves, because it's easy. Because they're easy to go after." He rolled his eyes and sighed a little. "Yeah, I've been here for almost a year and nothing's settled down, but that doesn't mean it's out of the realm of possibility." He caught the negativity beforehand this time and didn't allow himself to succumb. He was already feeling uncharacteristically low, so he couldn't let himself get dragged down any further.
"We could always have one of the telepaths help us out," he pointed out. "I think there are a couple of people who can detect lies, too, though I don't know who they are for sure. So you could always utilize those abilities." There was a way around everything, especially while people had these odd abilities. "I'd be more than willing. Every person has a tell, it's just a matter of finding it," he mused with a nod.
Toby nodded and chuckled softly. "Human nature is kind of annoying sometimes," he joked halfheartedly. "More often than not, people don't take reminders like that to heart, unfortunately. So the most we can really do is just continually remind them. Repetition is always helpful in situations like that." And there he went, psyching up the conversation. "Sorry," he laughed to himself. "I do that too often."